N30,000 national minimum wage unacceptable – Abdulsalami Abubakar

Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Military Head of State, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the current N30,000 minimum wage, deeming it unacceptable in the current Nigerian context. He urged President Bola Tinubu to consider raising the minimum wage, asserting that N30,000 is insufficient for meaningful human development anywhere in the world.

Speaking in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, during a speech at the inaugural Peace, Unity, and Reconciliation Summit organized by the Taraba Independent Peace Committee, Abdulsalami, represented by Rev Fr Atah Bakindo, the head of the secretariat of Kukah Centre and National Peace Committee, called on Nigerians to leverage local resources to enhance their standard of living.

“I want to plead with the Nigerian president that the N30,000 national minimum wage cannot take Nigerians anywhere. It is not acceptable anywhere in the world, and it cannot develop anybody; there is an urgent need to increase wages for the betterment of our growth.

“I want to urge the people of Taraba State to reconcile whatever kind of difference that created clashes and disunity. You cannot harness any development if you are not in peace and unity. You are fortunate to have the natural resources; peace and unity are the only bedrock of development,” he said.